Review: Mind Over Monsters by Jennifer Harlow

Book Description:

Very few people know the truth about Beatrice Alexander. She's no ordinary schoolteacher with a fondness for classic movies. Beatrice can move objects with her mind, an embarrassing and dangerous skill that she's never learned to master—or embrace. After nearly killing her brother by accident, she joins F.R.E.A.K.S. The Federal Response to Extra-Sensory and Kindred Supernaturals is a top-secret offshoot of the FBI that "neutralizes" ghouls, trolls, and other monsters threatening humanity.

Beatrice has no desire to become Buffy the vampire slayer. But F.R.E.A.K.S. offers training to control her power. Also, she doesn't feel like such a freak next to the other supernatural members, including a cute former detective who's a werewolf and an unbearable vampire determined to seduce Beatrice. Despite a natural instinct to flee from hideous, bloodthirsty zombies, Beatrice must prove herself on her first mission to find a cunning necromancer.

Jenny's review:

Beatrice Alexander knows that she has a curse, she moves things with her mind. It is a curse to her because she has not yet learned to control it and it can hurt people. Her family thinks she is crazy and she has just put her brother in the hospital.  In the day following this event she meets a man who offers her a job with the F.R.E.A.K.S. squad, a special section of the F.B.I. that is specially trained to hunt down ghost, ghouls, and monsters. It is a group made up of people or things with extra special powers, oh and a hot werewolf and super hot vampire. Without anywhere else to turn Beatrice agrees to the job. After training, she is on her first mission, zombies are attacking people in a small town and it is up to the F.R.E.A.K.S. to solve the case. Being her first mission Beatrice is not exactly prepared for what happens to her, and she begins to wonder if this is really the job for her.  Can Beatrice be an asset to her team, while keeping her wits about her and her feelings for a certain werewolf and vampire about her?

This book was a surprise to me.  The cover made me think it was a children’s book because the illustrations seemed to call out to the younger crowd, but due to a little adult content and relationships it is definitely not for kids. I would say more for the older high school crowd and up. That being said I really liked the book.  It was full of action and suspense as the F.R.E.A.K.S. team was trying to solve the mystery of who was summoning all the zombies in the town.  It read easily, and you definitely do not want to put it down, and I found myself looking at trying to solve the case for them. The mystery was like a great crime television show and I wanted to piece it together before the characters did.  I thought the characters were fun and witty and the tension that you know is there between Beatrice, the werewolf Will and the vampire Oliver was definitely enticing as trying to figure out who she might choose if either was fun.  Definitely a great read and so excited to get to the end and find out that there will be another book coming. I will definitely have to check that one out!

Website:

http://blog.jenniferharlowbooks.com/

*Reviewed by Jenny for Bite Club

*This book was given by the publisher for review.